Radisson, Pierre EspritPierre Esprit Radisson (1636-1710) was a French explorer and fur trader who settled in Canada in 1651. He and his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart de Groseillier, were the first European explorers to see what is now Minnesota. Radisson was instrumental in forming the Hudson's Bay Company (an English fur trading monopoly which was founded in 1670). Radisson also trekked to Hudson Bay (in 1668 and 1670). Radisson wrote about his treks through the North American wilderness and his capture by the Iroquois (1651-1653).

Raleigh, WalterSir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) was a British explorer, poet, historian, and soldier. Raleigh led expeditions to both North America and South America; he was trying to found new settlements, find gold, and increase trade with the New World. In 1585, Raleigh sent colonists to the east coast of North America; Raleigh later named that area Virginia, in honour of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen. He is often credited with bringing tobacco and potatoes from the New World to Britain, but they were already known there. Raleigh was later executed by King James I for treason.

RatificationRatification is the states' approval of the Constitution or an amendment to the Constitution.

Reagan, Ronald WilsonRonald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America (from 1981-1989); his Vice-President was George H. W. Bush. During Reagan's two terms as US President, the American hostages in Iran were freed, communism in the Soviet Union was defeated peacefully (this was symbolized by the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall separating communist East Berlin and democratic West Berlin), and US taxes were lowered.

Reno, Jesse W.Jesse W. Reno was an American inventor who developed the first escalator in 1891. An escalator is a moving stairway that helps people move easily from floor to floor in building. On his "inclined elevator," passengers rode on an wedge-shaped supports attached to a conveyor belt at an incline of about 25 degrees. The original elevator had a stationary handrail (which was soon replaced with a moving handrail).

Revere, PaulPaul Revere was a silversmith who warned American partiots that the British were coming as the American Revolution began.

Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war started by the 13 colonies in North America, who wanted their indpendence from Great Britian. The colonists revolted against British rule and taxation without representation. France, Spain, and the Netherlands helped the colonists against Britian. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris formalized the independence of the United States of America.

Rhode IslandRhode Island is a state in the eastern United States of America. Its capital is Providence.

Rhode Island was the 13th state in the USA; it became a state on May 29, 1790.

Rillieux, NorbertNorbert Rillieux (March 17, 1806-October 8, 1894) was an African-American inventor and engineer who invented a device that revolutionized sugar processing. Rillieux's multiple effect vacuum sugar evaporator (patented in 1864) made the processing of sugar more efficient, faster, and much safer. The resulting sugar was also superior. His apparatus was eventually adopted by sugar processing plants all around the world.

Ritty, JamesThe mechanical cash register was invented (and patented) in 1879 by James Ritty (1836-1918). Ritty was an American tavern keeper in Dayton, Ohio. He nicknamed his cash register the "Incorruptible Cashier," and started the National Manufacturing Company to sell them. When a transaction was completed, a bell rang on the cash register and the amount was noted on a large dial on the front of the machine. During each sale, a paper tape was punched with holes so that the merchant could keep track of sales (at the end of the day, the merchant could add up the holes).

John H. Patterson (1844-1922) bought Ritty's patent and his cash register company in 1884. Patterson renamed the Dayton, Ohio, company the National Cash Register Company. Patterson improved Ritty's cash register by adding a paper tape that kept a printed record of all transactions.

In 1906, Charles F. Kettering (and employee of NCR) developed an electric cash register (Kettering later worked for General Motors and invented the electric car ignition).

The National Cash Register Company was later called NCR, until the company was bought by ATT in 1991; it was given back the name NCR in 1996, when it was split off from ATT.

Rivers of the USAThe USA has over 250,000 rivers, with a total of about 3,500,000 miles of rivers. The longest river in the USA is the Missouri River (it is a tributary of the Mississippi River and is 2,540 miles long), but the biggest in terms of water volume is the deeper Mississippi River. The longest undammed river in the contiguous USA is the Yellowstone River (it is 692 miles long).

There are many other rivers in the US, including the Yukon River, the Rio Grande, the St. Lawrence River, the Arkansas River, the Colorado River, the Red River, the Brazos, River, the Columbia River, the Snake River, and others.

Robinson, JackieJack (Jackie) Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1912 - October 24, 1972) was the first black man allowed to play major league baseball.

On April 11, 1947, Robinson played his first major league baseball game (he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees). Robinson played with the Dodgers for 10 years. He played in six World Series and was the first African-American in the Baseball Hall of Fame (in 1962).

Roosevelt, Franklin DelanoFranklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) (1882-1945) was the 32nd president of the United States. FDR was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. Roosevelt was elected to the US presidency for an unprecedented four terms, more then any other president. He helped lift America out of the Great Depression by establishing many government programs, including farm relief, Social Security, unemployment insurance, and work-relief program. Roosevelt also improved the U.S.'s relations with Latin America with the "Good Neighbor Policy." In World War II the United States tried to remain neutral, but after Pearl Harbor (when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941) America entered the war, helping defend the Allies (Great Britain, France, USSR, Australia, etc.) against Germany and Japan. Weakened by polio, which he contracted in 1921, Roosevelt died before the war ended, on April 12, 1945, in Warm Springs, Georgia (during his fourth term as president).

Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore (Teddy) Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th president of the United States. Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City, New York. Roosevelt increased the size of the U.S. Navy and started construction of the Panama Canal (a canal across Panama to connect the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean). Roosevelt served from 1901 until 1909. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919, in Oyster Bay, New York.

Roper, Sylvester HowardSylvester Howard Roper (1823-1896) was an American inventor from New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Roper developed a coal-powered, two-cylinder, steam-driven wooden motorcycle in 1867. Roper also developed a steam-driven car. Roper died at the age of 73 while testing a new motorcycle.

Russell, Dale A.Dr. Dale Alan Russell is a vertebrate paleontologist and author. He is a Research Professor at North Carolina State University and Senior Curator of Paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Russel has named the following dinosaurs: Alxasaurus (Russell and Dong, 1994), Archaeornithomimus (1972), Atlasaurus (Monbaron, Russell and Taquet, 1999), Cristatusaurus (Taquet and Russell, 1998), Daspletosaurus (1970), Dromiceiomimus (1972), Dyslocosaurus (McIntosh, Coombs and Russell, 1992), Lurdusaurus (Taquet and Russell, 1999), Sigilmassasaurus (Russell, 1996), and Sinornithoides (Russell and Dong, 1994). Russell has written many papers and books, including, "Odyssey in Time: The Dinosaurs of North America" 1989 and "Systematics and Morphology of American Mosasaurs" (1967). In 1971, Russell and the physicist Wallace Tucker published a paper (in the journal Nature) called "Supernovae and the extinction of the dinosaurs," which theorized that a supernova caused the K-T Extinction. This was the first theory to put the blame on an extra-terrestrial phenomenon.

Russell, Henry N.Henry Norris Russell (1873-1967) was an American astronomer who, independently of E. Hertzsprung, realized the relationship between a star's temperature (color) and its brightness, and designed a diagram illustrating this relationship in 1913, later called the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.